Keeping Secrets
by Mocha2
Summary: Max's virus presents unseen complications as a clone and a spy enter her life. Read and review! The epilogue is done, so let's see some reviews and I'll post it. :)
1. Default Chapter

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 1:   
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dark Angel or its characters. Other than that, the story is mine. I own the Joyce and Mike characters.   
**Summary:** Max just spent a lot of money...   
**Spoilers/Timeframe:** Post-"Proof of Purchase".  
**Rating:** PG 13

Max kissed Joshua's forehead and smiled. Things were simple here--nice and simple. She took the empty cash envelope out of her jacket and folded it into various shapes while she sat on the floor. _Oh my God_, she thought as she remembered what had happened earlier with Alec and the doctor. The smile faded from her face. 

_What am I going to tell Logan? "Gee, sorr,y buddy, can't touch dis"?_ She rested her head against the bookcase. She hadn't had to give the doctor that money. She was just afraid of commitment. _I don't why I am, Logan sure as hell isn't._ Yes, that was it, she gave Doc the money to take the bomb out of Alec's neck because she afraid of a relationship. Perfect. That's what she would tell Logan. The whole, "but he's family" thing had gotten pretty old when Zack was around. And things were different between her and Logan, now. She got up and went to her baby. It was still parked where she'd left it. Urgently she started it and took off. _Gotta do this before I can't_, she told herself. 

Max pounded the buttons in the elevator. She missed her intended targets and realized she was shaking. _Damned genetic mess-ups_, she thought. She finally hit the correct button and sat down in the corner of the elevator, curled up with her arms wrapped around her legs, and pressed her forehead into her knees as she shook. _Logan'll have some Trytophan..Well, he'd better, anyway_... The elevator slammed to a stop and opened. Cautiously she rose and exited the steel box. Shaking too badly to pick the lock, she knocked on the wooden door. Max heard the whirring of Logan's exoskeleton and he approached the door and waited, trying to get her seizure under control. The door opened, showing a smiling Logan. His smile faded as he saw Max shaking. 

"Oh… Hold on a second. Come in, sit down," he said as he raced for the bathroom. _Thank goodness I still have this in here_, he thought as he grabbed the bottle from it's almost-dusty resting place in the cabinet above his sink. He ran into his living room with it and handed it to Max--attempted to, anyway. She laughed and pointed at the small end table beside her. 

"I might kill you if you hand that to me." She smiled weakly. He nodded in agreement and put it down on the table. Max snatched it, opened it, and swallowed half the bottle as Logan sat down in a chair across from her. She closed her eyes for a moment and the seizure slowed. In about ten minutes it had completely stopped. Logan looked worried. 

"You okay? Want some milk or something?" He wanted to hold her--seizures weren't fun, even if you were a transgenic super-girl. 

"I'm fine..." She nodded and smiled at him. "Actually, there's something I better tell you." She sat up straight, feet on the floor, instead of her usual huddled-up seizure position. Max put her hands on her lap and squeezed them together, hunched forward a bit, as if she was a nervous kid at a job interview. 

"Um… Go ahead." Logan half-chuckled, trying to ease the tension. Whatever she had to say, it couldn't be good… 

"I spent the $5000 you gave me!" she blurted it out and turned five shades of red. Logan's smile disappeared again--now he just looked shocked. He tried to get the expression off his face but to no avail. 

"Um..what?" He rubbed the back of his neck and showed too much teeth as he spoke. 

"Well…Alec, y'know, the guy who came in here when I first got back? Hmm…Well, someone who's looking to kill us all and erase Manticore put this bead in the back of his neck--" 

"Like the Red implant you have?" Logan interrupted. He knew he probably shouldn't have said anything --she'd been flailing her hands when she'd started talking and gave an impatient sigh when he interrupted her. "Sorry," he said. "Go on." 

"Well, this implant is…was…actually a small bomb, just big enough to kill him if it went off. And it would go off in twenty-four hours. So he had to kill three Manticore transgenics and cut off their barcodes. He was going to kill me and he didn't, and we were running short on time so we found the Doc that you and I went to and got him to take it out but it cost ten large and Alec only had five and I had five so I pitched in and..." She breathed in. Max had said most of that in about two breaths and was running low on oxygen. "And then the Doctor said he was leaving town and he gave me the research he'd already done and then left." She stood up. 

"Is that…the only reason you came over here?" Logan looked up at her. She nodded and blinked back tears. She heard something and her gaze snapped over to the hallway. Asha stood in a towel. 

"Hi. Um, sorry…" The blonde woman played with the edge of her towel that was on her head. "I didn't hear…um…anything...I better go get changed." Max looked a little confused, then used her enhanced vision to look at something on the blonde that caught her eye. She turned to Logan. 

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Looks like I've been replaced anyway." She walked towards the entrance and Logan went after her and grabbed her hand as she placed her other hand on the door. 

"Watch it!" Max snatched her hand away before Logan's could even get close to it. 

"You haven't been replaced," Logan spoke firmly. "I seem to recall you showering here a lot before… Well, before." 

"I meant replaced as… replacing your Eyes Only resident transgenic ass-kicker." She bit her lip and looked around. 

"What?" Logan looked into her eyes, but he didn't need to. The worry was all over her face. 

"Asha's her name, right? I think she's part of a secret organization." Max spoke quietly so Asha wouldn't hear. Logan panicked. _How could she have figured out that Asha's in the S1W? _

"I know she's in the S1W if that's what you're thinking," she said bluntly. "Don't let her near the computer or tell her you're Eyes Only, I'll have to take care of her." 

Logan chuckled. "What _are_ you on about, Max?" She didn't chuckle back, just looked him in the eyes. She sighed and shook her head. 

"Like I was saying… Anyway, gotta blaze." He didn't back up. "Um, could you...move? I have to back up to open the door and I don't wanna..." She smiled at him and he backed up. She left his penthouse. _I'd better find Alec and Joshua and get back here ASAP_, she decided. 


	2. Chapter Two

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 2: Where the Wild Things Are  
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dark Angel or its characters. Other than that, the story is mine.  
**Summary:** Max has to remove Asha--if that is her true identity.  
**Spoilers/Timeframe:** Occurs right after "Proof Of Purchase".  
**Rating:** PG 13

Sketchy staggered out Crash's back door and blew chunks. He wheezed and just about fell in his own bile, but a gloved hand snatched the neck of his shirt first. 

"Less beer really is more, moron," Max giggled. She sat him up against Crash's back wall instead of his puke and interrogated him. 

"Remember that tabloid you showed me with the beast guy on the front?" She still had a grip on his shirt. He nodded. "You seen him? At all?" Sketchy blinked, burped, pointed to Max's left. Joshua blinked, too, and cocked his head a bit. 

"Max," he said in his dog-voice. "You blaze?" Max nodded at him and then hit Sketchy upside the head, knocking him out. _Hopefully he'll just think it's a drunken delusion... _She and Joshua climbed onto her bike and sped off. 

"You seen Alec lately?" she yelled over the gusts of wind her bike created. 

"Who is Alec?" Joshua's long hair waved in the wind as Max peeled around a corner. 

"He's the guy who tried to kill me earlier!" 

"He blaze!" 

"What?" 

"There!" Joshua yelled. Max left skids as she stopped and jumped off the bike and onto Alec, knocking him into the ground beside a dumpster. 

"Go in heat much, Max? Get off me!" Alec threw her off, a few feet away, closer to her bike. They both stood. 

"I need a favor. Manticore spy is giving an Eyes Only informant a hard time. Remember the blonde girl?" Max flipped her hair out of her face and put a hand on her hip. 

"She's no biosynth, Max. I took a gun out of her hand like I was stealing candy from a baby." Max winced at his verbal skills. 

"She is. I saw it. Her barcode." Alec was quiet for a moment. 

"She's no biosynth, Max. She cares about Logan, she should've kicked my ass into a wall." They sat on some boxes and talked. 

"She doesn't care about him in that way. Then she'd _really_ be replacing me..." Max picked at her gloves and took a deep breath. 

"Are you saying you don't care about Logan?" 

Max looked at him with big eyes. "I do! I mean I think I do... Anyway, I don't know if she's a spy or not, we better kick her ass." 

"Who says she's not saying the same thing to herself? 'What's the dealio with that brunette, she's a biosynth!'" Alec said the last phrase in a high girlie voice and Max smiled. She looked away from him then and continued picking at her gloves. 

"I care about him but I don't want Asha getting to Eyes Only and revealing him… And I was supposed to kill him remember? Maybe Asha got involved with Logan after Manticore put me back in a cage. Then, in case _I_ didn't whack him..." Max and Alec's eyes widened simultaneously as the realization sunk in. 

"You're out of the picture for the night, but blondie isn't. And it's the first time you've really been out of the picture since you got back, right?" Max nodded as Alec spoke. 

"Why didn't she kill him while I was away?" Max ran a hand through her hair nervously. 

"You think Manticore would want her to do that? You'd be on a guilt trip if you were the one who killed him, and you'd feel even worse if he got killed while you were--" 

"Out lookin' for my family so we could whack his friend..." Max finished his sentence. It was brilliant. Asha comes around while Max is away, Max almost kills Logan but it backfires, so Asha switches to Plan B. Take a shower while Max is over and display her barcode, have Max think she's a powerful biosynth, Max goes out to get her fellow transgenics.. But wasn't Asha in her mid-twenties? She'd have to be an X4 or one of the first X5s. Max could take her, no problem. But no, she goes out to get help _and leaves Asha there with Logan._

"Oh my God," Max said quickly. "Joshua, we blaze!" She waved a hand signal at Alec and the three of them--albeit barely--managed to fit on the bike as they sped towards Foggle Towers. 

"This is delicious, Logan," Asha smiled widely at him as she wolfed down some spaghetti. They were sitting at the dining room table, across from each other. He smiled back and said thanks, then went back to eating. 

Asha cleared her throat and put down her fork. "Did you ever consider that Max is a spy?" She folded her hands underneath her chin and grinned at him. 

Logan chewed and swallowed, shook his head, and shoved another forkful of the Cale family's secret recipe spaghetti into his mouth. _Damn, I'm a good cook… Max? Spy? _He put down his fork also and looked at Asha. 

"What the hell gave you that idea?" he said quickly, not returning her grin. Asha put her hands in her lap and showed too much teeth. 

"Well… She seems awfully interested in your broadcasts and stuff… Your computer equipment. Wouldn't be surprised if she went and got her friends to whack you and me... 'Cause I could kick her ass, me being an X5 and all." Logan had resumed eating when she'd started talking again and choked when she said that she was an X5. 

_"What?" _

Asha spun her fork in her spaghetti. "Your girlfriend knows, I heard her talking to you. I didn't leave the hallway while you guys were blabbing or anything. Fact of the matter is, Max is a spy now." She put her fork down. "I was sent here when her clone whacked her, in case she came back, y'know, reprogrammed to kick your sorry ass. She wasn't reprogrammed to kill you as soon as she saw you, not even with this virus she's got. I wouldn't let that happen. But there's a trigger that they attatched to her Red implant, and when they want you dead they just push a button." 

"Oh..my God," Logan swallowed hard. "It's so clear now...That she's a--" 

"Spy. Yes, she's a damned spy." Max walked in from the hallway where her usual rope drop-in was. There was a crash as Joshua landed and Max winced. 

"Sowry Max," Joshua said. "We blaze!" he said to Asha. She sighed and shook her head, standing up and pushing in the chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Joshua turned to Max. "Can we blaze again? It's fun." Max shook her head impatiently and ran back towards the rope, looked up. 

"Alec!" 

"Uh..What..?" He clung to the rope about ten feet away from Max. 

"Come down!" 

"I..can't.." Alec gripped the rope and tried to move down a bit. 

"Then just let go!" Joshua ran over and looked up. 

"Cat in his cocktail.. .He'll land safe." he said to Max. 

"Hear that, Alec? Just drop!" And so he did, and he landed on his feet. Joshua nodded at Max. The trio headed back into Logan's main room. Asha and Logan now stood in the center of the room. One of Asha's arms was wrapped around Logan's neck, the hand covering his mouth. With her other hand she poked the side of Logan's head with his own gun. His eyes darted around. He tried to call Max's name when she reappeared but his cry was stifled. 

"Hey, Maxie, you didn't kill Eyes Only here with the virus so I figured I'd better end his life. And yours, seeing as you practically ended everyone's life at Manticore. Where are those kids gonna go, Maxie? Do you know what you've done?" Logan struggled but it was pointless. 

"When did Manticore recapture you? The night after the escape?" Max said softly. Now that she had a good look at Asha, she knew the blonde was one of the 11 other X5s that escaped with her. 

"A week after. Good thing, too, my seizures got pretty bad, and a lot of people thought it was weird that I didn't sleep." She tightened her grip on Logan, adjusted the gun, and pulled the trigger. 


	3. 

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 3: Plans That Backfire   
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** "Proof of Purchase" spoilers, but other than that the plot is mine.   
**Summary:** A lucky coincidence leaves our quartet out of town - at the cabin.  
**Rating:** PG 13  
**A/N:** Probably confusing to Europeans and Australians because the second season doesn't start for a while in those parts, but I'll try and fill in the background stuff (like what happened before the story) for the next chapter. Italics are thoughts, obviously. 

"When did Manticore recapture you? The night after the escape?" Max said softly. Now that she had a good look at Asha, she knew the blonde was one of the 11 other X5s that escaped with her.

"A week after. Good thing, too, my seizures got pretty bad, and a lot of people thought it was wierd that I didn't sleep." She tightened her grip on Logan and adjusted the gun. Max smiled. She knew exactly what would happen. Logan's gun had gotten a trip to a gunsmith after she found out that he was suicidal. Logan wouldn't die; Asha was about to screw herself over. 

Asha pulled the trigger and the gun backfired. Logan winced as her blood splattered on him and she fell to the ground.

"After I found your records at Doc Vertes', I had your gun... Fixed," Max said confidently. Logan had her back to her - he was half-sitting beside Asha's corpse. "As in it backfires. It's hard enough not being able to touch you, Logan..." Her voice faltered on the last sentence. She paused and continued. "We'll have to, um, get rid of her." Max, Alec, and Joshua still stood in the hallway entrance. After an uncomfortable moment, Max walked over to Asha's dead body and squatted on the opposite side, across from Logan. She looked up at Alec and Joshua and gave them a look, and they retreated into another room.

"How much of that was true?" Logan whispered bitterly. 

"How much of what?" She was just as bitter. "You didn't believe this chick, did you?"

"Max," he said, in a softer tone. "How much of it?" She sat down cross-legged beside Asha, as did he.

"They did put something on my Red implant, they press a trigger and I whack you... In case the virus and an asassin didn't work..." She didn't look at him - she couldn't. She just picked at her boots.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He was bitter again.

"I didn't want you to be more afraid of me than you already are!" She said this a louder voice and looked right at him. Logan was taken aback but continued.

"Who's got the trigger?" He grunted a bit before speaking and looked at Max.

"I don't know! I don't frickin' know and I shouldn't have even told you." She sighed and looked back down at her boots. "You'd better get out of town, in case they press the magic button. Alec will be able to get word to you that I'm on the hunt." Max stood up and brushed off her pants. "You gonna need help with this?"

"Probably not." He was thoughtful for a moment, then remembered something and looked up at Max. "Manticore will probably track you to see if you're close to me before they press that trigger. And the cabin's outside of Seattle, which is probably the only place they'll bother looking." He smiled and hoped she knew what he was getting at.

"True, I'll go and... Uhh... Get some more clothes from my place," She looked down at Ashas sprawled post-mortum form and showed a bit too much teeth. "I'll get Alec and Joshua to help you with this. I'll pitch in and clean up the blood after." He stood up and his exoskeleton beeped suddenly, and he fel forward - onto Max.

"Logan!" She yelled as she blurred to the side. He hit the corpse.

"Gee, thanks," Logan slithered off of Asha and flipped himself over, propped himself up on his elbows.

"At least you're not dead," She shrugged. "Falling on a dead body isn't so bad. So is the vote unanimous to get her dead ass out of here?" _Yeah, let a parapeligic hit the linoleum, what a people person you are, Max._ "Um, I'll go get Alec to get your chair, because I'd better not touch it or anything," She chuckled and Logan smiled back. She started down the hall and Logan called out to her. 

"Max?"

"Yeah?" She turned around.

"Nothing else..she said..was true, right?" 


	4. 

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 4: Party Time   
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** "Proof of Purchase" spoilers, but other than that the plot is mine. I own the new character.   
**Summary:** A suprise shows up.  
**Rating:** PG 13  
**A/N:** Italics are thoughts, obviously. Don't get me wrong here, I love Asha's character, but I needed her out of the way for a bit. 

Max grunted and slammed the spoon on the ground. How long had she been doing this? Months? Did Renfro even know about her kidnapping?

She remembered the day. A week after her transplant, someone had just pushed her bed out of Manticore and all the way here, to an alley that she somewhat remembered. Had it been Doc Vertes' office? The glass in the ceiling of the main room still hadn't been repaired and it rained in the room beside hers. She was in a small patient's room that had probably been used by homeless people for the past few months. It was windowless - barely a closet. It faintly reminded her of the little torture rooms Manticore had, where you were stuck in a small pit with no light, except this room had light. She picked up the spoon again and kept digging. The brick broke. She smiled and sat up against the wall, almost laughing. She was getting out of here. Another brick came loose, and soon there was a sizable opening. 

Joshua snored on the floor. Alec snored on the couch. Logan snored in his room. Max slept in a chair. It was a good thing that everyone was asleep, or they'd notice that she was dozing. Max didn't doze. She'd been exactly like Max to this very moment. She came out of a dream state, realized what she was doing, and went to sit in the kitchen. 

How convienent! A rope already here. Max stood over the place where she usually dropped into Logan's apartment. Should she go to Original Cindy first? She needed to brush her teeth and shave. Badly. Oh well. She slid down the rope and landed softly on the floor. Everything looked the same. She was sitting at the kitchen table. Wait a second. 

Max's glance shifted over to the hallway. "X5-452, it's about time," she got up and sauntered over to where the real Max was standing, in the entrance of the hallway. 

"Who the hell are you?" She took a whiff. "And why does the place smell like blood?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man that looked like her brother Ben, and a mutant creature that looked like something from... Not from Manticore, everything from Manticore looked handsome and beautiful. 

"You were kidnapped, because the Reds are still after your blood. So is a man named White," Max's clone smirked. "You're perfect, Max. Perfect to the reds and to people who've seen your DNA. I'm X5-453 if you're wondering. You've all got clones, raised in your image to be like you. Renfro thought I was actually you and gave me a virus, it really hurt Logan's feelings when he discovered that he can't touch... You." 

Max looked worried and stepped closer. "What? Virus? And who are they? Is Logan okay?" She looked in the general direction of the window and then back at her clone. She told Max to sit down with her and they talked. Her clone filled her on recent happenings since her operation. 

"Look, I'm tired as hell. I'm gonna go crash in the guestroom." She got up but Max grabbed her arm. 

"I should probably kill you or something. I mean, you know about Eyes Only, you know about everything." 

"No," her clone shook her head. "I like your life. I'ts nice, peaceful, you've got it good, girl. Can I be your twin or something?" Max could tell she wasn't lying. If she turned her clone away, she may snitch on Logan... 

"Fine," Max said after a moment. "You can't be Max, though." 

"I like the name Milla," her clone said hesitantly. "I found an old magazine, pre-pulse. Milla Jovovich was a pretty famous model, I think." She fidgeted with a crumb on the table. 

"I don't fidget. How old are you, anyway?" Max was wide awake, unlike Milla. She looked about ready to pass out. 

"Well, I'd never met you, so.. I'm 19. You're 21." 

"Well, you're 21 as of now." Max ran a hand through her still short (and curly) hair. She liked Milla's uncut Manticore hair, but not as much as her own. "You should probably be asleep as of now too," Max chuckled. Milla got up to go to the guest bedroom and Max caught her on her way out. 

"If you blink wrong, I'll defenistrate you right here. And I don't want to do that, but if I have to, I will kill some cloned, transgenic ass, got it?" Max looked Milla in the eyes and spoke sternly. Milla gulped and nodded. "Have a good sleep then," Max grinned. 

The next morning, Logan got up, put on his exoskeleton, and brushed his teeth. It's been used, he thought. Max? No, she wouldn't be silly enough to put her germs on here. Must've been Alec. He shaved, put some gel in his hair, and walked out of the bathroom Alec was awake, Joshua ws awake, Max was awake, and Max was awake too, and they were all playing poker on his kitchen table. Max and Max. Logan walked up to the table. Joshua nd Alec sat on one side, and a curly-haired Max and a straight-haired Max sat on the other. Yup, he dreaming, couldn't be two Maxes, nope, not possible. The curly-haired Max looked up at him and said his name quietly, then got up and went to him, touched his arm. He backed away instinctively - he couldn't touch Max, even in a dream. 

"Logan, I need to talk to you," She was faster than him this time and grabbed his arm. They went into the hallway. Logan found this all completely normal, after all, he was dreaming. Then curly-haired Max kissed him, he felt it, it was real, he was not dreaming. 

"Max," He said, their heads still in each other's hands, "What's going on?" She broke away. 

"The other Max is actually Milla, a..clone of mine," She smiled. "I'm Max. No virus. Please stop acting like you're dreaming." Logan stood and looked at her in disbelief. 

"Well..We have to..uh..get to the cabin. Max..your clone..Milla, I mean, is triggered to kill me, but they won't set her off unless she's near me, and they're only tracking her in Seattle, so we're all going to the cabin." He looked at her while he spoke. Cheap jeans, cheap jacket, cheap t-shirt, as if she'd been held captive for the past few months by some place other than Manticore, some place without enough money. She was still curvy, curly-hair-to-the-shoulders Max, not straight-haired and skinny Milla. She looked almost as uncomfortable as he did having this conversation. 

"Thank God you're alive," He said at last and kissed her. 

"No, I win!" Joshua pounded the table in frustration. Milla rolled her eyes, set her cards on the table, leaned back, ran her fingers through her hair. 

"Fine, Joshua, you win," She sighed. Playing poker with her fellow transgenics was useless. One was smarter than her, one was more stubborn. She may have been the better poker player, but using her skills against those two was like bitch-slapping a Red. Useless. 

"Well, I need coffee, it's only nine in the morning," Alec dropped his cards and walked into the kitchen. "You want some too, Milla?" She told him yes. Max and Milla had explained the situation over a game of Crazy Eights, after Joshua noticed how many Maxes were in the room. Logan came back into his penthouse, and Milla wheeled around in her chair. 

"Where's the brat?" She asked with a chuckle. "Sorry if I led you on, Logan, but y'know." 

"Yeah, I know. She had to go to work," Logan sat down beside Milla and gave Alec a ayell to get him some coffee. Alec returned with three mugs of coffee and handed them out. Joshua growled at him and he barked back. 

"I wonder who was holding her, and where, and stuff," Alex wrapped her hands around the warm coffee cup. It felt good not being a complete and total fake any more. Logan's cellphone rang, and he went up and answered it. 

"Max? Hi. What the..? Lab creeps?" Three heads at the table turned on his last two words. "Yeah. We'll come get you and go to the cabin from there. Out back? Okay, see you soon." He set down the phone and grabbed his jacket, walked towards the door. "Let's go." 

Milla got up and walked towards him. "Guys holding Max checked on her this morning and she wasn't there so they checked the crib?" Joshua and Alec followed behind her. 

"Yup," Logan said. The quartet waited for the elevator. 

---- 

Max ducked behind some garbage cans and began to shake. No, no, please, not now... She breathed in deeply and used her enhanced vision to check for anyone, or anything. The coast was clear until Logan's Aztek pulled up and the door opened. She smiled widely and ran over. The car pulled away. 

Max turned around in her seat. She was about to ask Milla why she was sitting in furthest-back seat and checked herself. Milla decided not to stay quiet, though. 

"So who was holding you? Where? Tell us, we need to be entertained," Milla spoke quickly and in a perky voice. She was a bit irritating now that she wasn't trying to be Max. 

"Reds, I guess. Big strong men and a blonde, until a few weeks ago. They put me in some tiny-ass room at Vertes' lab," Max looked at Logan. This reminded her of the last time they'd gone up to the cabin. 

"Vertes? How come you didn't bust out earlier, then?" Logan asked her. 

"Let's see how long it takes _you_ to dig out of a brick room," she said quietly, barely above a whisper. 

"What, Max?" Logan turned to look at her, a bit worried at the sarcasm he heard in the words he coudln't understand. 

"She said that she wants to see you dig out a brick room, Logan dahling," Milla chimed in from the backseat. "Super human hearing is quite the nice thing to have." 

Alec looked behind him. "You're really imma-" 

"Alright, children, let's just drop it." Max's voice came firmly and seemed to echo. Joshua grunted and fell asleep in the seat behind her. 

They arrived at the cabin, pulled in, got out. "I gotta go take a leak," Milla called as she raced for the door. Max chuckled and leaned against the car as the three males walked towards the cabin. She called out one of their names and when he turned around, she motioned for him to come over to the car. 

"Max," Logan said when he'd returned to the car. He stood beside her and leaned against the car. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just wierd... You were around and I couldn't touch or anything, and now you're actually back, and I was a bit... Well..." 

"Bitchy?" She looked at him with a smile. "Yeah, me too. Don't worry about it," She glanced at the cabin and gave a nosy Milla a dirty look. 

"We're good then?" Max nodded at him and started shaking again. 


	5. 

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 5: And if I go Away Again...   
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** "Proof of Purchase" spoilers, but other than that the plot is mine. I own Milla's character post-faking-being-Max.   
**Summary:** Max and her gang must evade her captors and get back to Seattle.  
**Rating:** PG 13  
**A/N:** Italics are thoughts, obviously. 

Max snapped awake. She was at the cabin, in one of the rooms obviosuly meant for kids. Logan snored in the next bed that was a few feet from hers, which was also a twin size. Milla, Joshua, and Alec slept in the next room. _Logan looks so sexy when he sleeps... I bet Alec does too..._ She shook her head and noticed she was sweating. How many months had it been? Four? No, five by now. She bit her lip, and got up, then raced into the bathroom and turned on the shower. After sh'ed undressed, she got in and let the hot water beat down on her. Now was not the best time to go into heat.

Max opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They ached from digging out of that room - there were scabs and bruises. She'd kept them concealed so far but she would have to steal Milla's sexy leather gloves before her clone awoke. Sighing, she grabbed a bottle of shampoo and washed her hair. She felt cleaner and better the second she began lathering it into her hair. _I bet Logan does this too, when he's here... He uses the exact same shampoo and bodywash and sponge and..._ She closed her eyes tightly and washed out her hair. She finished and clambered out, quickly drying herself off with a towel and catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She looked squeaky clean like Milla - no makeup at all, lightly tanned on top of her hispanic complexion. She sighed again. She wanted life to be normal, not worrying about clones the excuse she was going to have tro make for them being around, not worrying about being in heat and what she may do... She licked her lips in place of her usual lip balm and redressed, exited the bathroom. Logan was making coffee in the kitchen.

"Good morning," he leaned over for a kiss and got what he wanted. Max wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his, kissing him passionately. He backed out after a (rather wonferful) moment and looked at her in confusion.

"Anyone's cat DNA coming back to bite them in the ass?" he laughed a bit, then backed away completely. "Maybe in a few days, okay?" He went back to making coffee.

"Aww, that hurts my feelings," she wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his neck. He turned around and put his hands on her arms.

"Max," he said sternly. "I'd love to, but not when your DNA's making your decisions, alright?" She nodded impatiently and stalked off towards the bathroom, bumping into Milla.

"Where you off to?"

"I need another shower."

-----

After an icy shower, Max walked out in the living room. She'd found a ponytail elastic and pulled her hair back. Logan and the rest of their gang were sitting on couches and chairs in the living room discussing something, and she sat down beside Milla on a two-seater couch.

"So, what's up?" she asked casually, fidgeting and moving around jerkily like a bird. She changed positions a few times. "Anyway." 

"We've decided to go back to Seattle, to Sabastien's place - because there's probably bad guys with guns camped at the Towers - and hook me up with a new identity and short hair. Uh, shorter than yours," Max gave a disapproving look to her clone after she said she'd be getting a haircut. Milla continued, looking at the group and then back at Max a few times. "I'd be going to Mexico, 'cause, well, I'm programmed to kill Logan if I touch him or someone presses a button or anything," Milla used her hands to express herself as she spoke.

"Okay," Max shrugged. If Joshua, Alec, and Milla would just go away, she and Logan could...

"Well, let's go," Logan nodded at them and got up.

The trip back to Seattle was long and quiet. Max sat in the very back with Milla so she wouldn't be near Logan. For some reason she wasn't attracted as much to Alec as she was to Logan - maybe because he was trangenic? She had no idea, Zack hadn't been around when she'd be in heat, neither had any of her other brothers.

When they got back to Seattle, their first stop was at Sebastian's. Milla would take the Aztek and check Logan's apartment with Alec, and Joshua and Max would check on Original Cindy, as they'd decided in the car. Logan, who seemed to be what everyone wanted, would be left at Sebastian's house.

Max climbed out of the Aztek after Alec and Joshua and bit her lip as she looked at Logan. _Damn he's hot,_ she thought. Milla dragged her away from the car.

"The bike's at your crib. When the coast is clear, I'll call your beeper with the message..uhh.. 456," Milla said uncomfortably. She had been designed not to go into heat, and seeing herself go into heat was unnerving.

"Kay," Max said, still moving a bit jerkily. Her sister grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Stay at your apartment until this is over, got it? I don't want you embarrassing me," Milla spat with a bit too much force. Max shrugged it off and told her that staying indoors for another day wouldn't be too hard, and Milla drove her home.

Max staggered into her apartment. She'd wanted to see Original Cindy for a long time, but she had to keep on her toes - there could be bad guys lurking.

"Yo, boo!" Max yelled, smiling. Cindy came of out of her room, wearing a funky t-shirt and jeans. She put one hand on the counter and the other on her hip.

"And _where_ were you, boo?" she asked. 

"No where much," Max shrugged. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed some peanut butter, then began eating it out of the jar with her bare hands. Original Cindy came over and took it out of her grasp.

"You stressed? And what's with the hair?" She reached over to feel Max's curly locks and Max smiled.

"Straight-haired me ain't me," she said dumbly, licking the peanut butter off her fingers. "It's my clone, Milla. She's programmed to kill Logan and all, and she's the one who can't touch him," Max moved her tongue around her teeth to clean the peanut butter off them. "So after she checks out Logan's digs, she's going to Mexico so no one will press the tirgger to make her kill Logan and stuff. And Logan and Sebastian are making her some false papers. And Joshua is..." Her mind snapped back into focus. _Oh yeah, Joshua's with Sebastian._

"Sebastian? Clones? Joshua? Why don't you go clean Logan's apartment of the baddies, you in heat or somethin'?" Cindy followed Max to the couch and they sat.

"Yeah," Max stuttered, "I figgered we'd better get some use of that clone." Her beeper went off in herbedroom and she ran to retrieve it. 

"Who is it, boo?" Cindy called. 

"It's Lo-" Cindy appeared suddenly and snatched the beeper.

"Tell ya what, sugah. We call up Milla or whatever and Sketchy and our Crash buddies and chill here and _not_ go near Logan, aiight? Don't want you screwin' up a relationship that's barely gotten started," she led Max back into the main area of the apartment and handed her the phone.

Milla dropped silently into Logan's hallway, flitting her head back and forth, keeping her eyes and ears open for anything - microphones, cameras, guys that were heavily armed. Finding nothing after searching the entire apartment, she inspected Logan's fridge and popped open a Diet Coke. The phone rang and the breaking silence shook her a bit. Alec came out of the hallway and shrugged.

"Yeah, sounds like fun. I'll be there in a bit." 

-----------

"Aiight boo, truth or dare?" Max, Cindy, Milla, Sketchy, and Alec sat in a circle in Max's living room. Cindy turned to Max.

"Oh hell, dare," she laughed and took another drink of her beer. Cindy took it away from her.

"Okay, I dare you kiss a girl-" Max turned and gave Milla a long, passionnate kiss then turned to her friend while Milla sat, a bit confused. "Gee, I was gonna say a girl you find walkin' on the street, but whatever." The group laughed themselves hoarse.

NEXT DAY

Max reported to her roommate the next morning that she didn't have any smutty dreams and that her heat had ended, and could she go to Logan's now? Original Cindy gave a sleepy "yes" and went back into her bedroom. 

Milla dozed on the couch. Max pondered waking her up, then decided against it. Today would be a big day. Milla and Max would go to Logan's, get the fake ID, then head down to the bus stop. Alec had left, apparently.

"Eh... Max?" Milla sat up and threw the blanket off, then stood and ran her fingers through her hair. "Let's go, before I change my mind." Max smiled and the two left.

Max beat Milla to the door and knocked politely, then heard a crash inside. She turned to Milla, worried, then picked the door and let herself in.

Logan lay on the ground, shaking. "Oh my God!" Max rshed to his side and placed her hands on his arms and looked into his eyes, figuring his exoskeleton had simply broken down. "Milla, go get me the-"

"Max," he grabbed her arm. "You didn't kiss her, did you?" Max squinted at him a bit.

"_What?_ How'd you know?"

"Go to... The doctor, did Milla... Tell you? Find him, get the antidote, he'll know which one... Get the papers from Milla too."

"Okay," she stood and almost bumped into Milla, who had snuck up behind her.

"Here," she handed the papers to Max. "I'm sorry. I should've told you. You were careless. Anyway, go, I'll keep him awake." Max looked puzzled, then broke into a run. 


	6. 

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 6: No Alarms and No Surpises   
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** "Proof of Purchase" spoilers, but other than that the plot is mine. I own Milla's character post-faking-being-Max.   
**Summary:** Max learns of her new predicament and must deal with the repurcussions.  
**Rating:** PG 13  
**A/N:** Italics are thoughts, obviously. I got the title of this chapter from a Radiohead song. 

Max's baby blazed down the Seattle streets towards the doctor's house. _What the hell is up with Logan?_ She almost passed the doctor's house, but skidded to a stop. Dismounting, she charged through the door to find the Doc himself sitting at a small table, eating an Egg McMuffin - which made perfect sense, it was only about 9AM. She grabbed him by the shirt, threw him against the wall, and slammed the papers Milla had given her into his face.

"Look, buddy, from what I hear you're pretty goddamned expensive, and that someone else has already paid you for half of this-" she wiped the paper on his face,"and I need the other half of your project right now, got it? And some antidote. I'll get the cash later but I want the bloody job done in the next twenty minutes, got it?" She tightened her grip, then let him dropped to the ground, throwing the papers at him.

"I... I've already got it done, the antidote too... In the drawer over there," He pointed weakly to his desk. She kicked him in a rather sensitive spot and he grunted, rolling over on his side into the fetal position.

"And you wanna tell me what's up with this whole kissing thing?" She quatted and looked at him.

"You can't kiss anyone with the same genetic sequences... While you have the virus," he grunted. _He must think I'm the same Max that he met earlier_. "Or theyll get it... And it'll be worse. Can't go within thirty feet of that Logan fellow," he wheezed a bit, rocking back and forth.

"And if I inject myself with this, will the people with the same genetic stuff as me be able to get near Logan?" She sounded like someone saying, "This friend of mine has this problem..."

"You'll have to kiss them or transfuse a bit of blood with them first... You got a clone or something?"

"Yeah," Max shrugged. "How long should I-I mean, she-wait?" She smiled nervously. If Manticore knew she had a clone...

"It's pretty instantaneous," the doctor said.

"Thanks," Max grabbed the antidote and cure and ran out.

The phone rang. Logan looked over, a bit lazily. The sores had started a while ago. He faded in and out of consciousness, and the ringing phone kept him awake. His head rolled back over to the other side and he looked around. He was on the floor. It felt like when Milla had given him the virus, but neither Max, nor Milla had touched him this time. The room began to spin and he closed his eyes. The phone stopped ringing.

Milla entered with Bling soon after that. He lived in the building but she didn't have a damned clue what his phone number was.

"Ya wanna go fix him up on the couch? I can't touch him and stuff... I'll explain later," Milla ushered a puzzled Bling towards Logan. A few minutes later, Logan was pass out on the couch. Milla and Bling went into the kitchen.

"What the hell do you mean you can't touch him, Max?" Bling leaned against the fridge and Milla sat on a counter. She felt horrible, like a knife was turning inside her. She wasn't quick enough to dodge's Max's kiss and now Logan was dying... She swore under her breath.

"Max was kidnapped from Manticore because she's perfect... Perfect, perfect, perfect. She's so perfect she's got a damned clone! Anyway, after she was shot and recovered, they subbed me in so that this S1W group could piss around with her... I was given a virus to kill Logan because I was Max, remember? If I touch him, he ends up like that-" she nodded towards the living room "-But in case that didn't work out, I'm also programmed to kill him.. And that could happen at any time. He also had an assassin but she got killed and... Anyway, Max got out and went into heat, so a bunch of us got together at Max's crib and played Truth or Dare, and she kissed me and I gave her the virus, but worse.. If she comes within thirty feet of him, he does that," she nodded at the living room again. 

"Ouch," Bling crossed his arms across his chest. "So who are you?"

"I'm Milla," she stood up and went to the fridge. Bling moved away a bit and she opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Coke, opened it, took a few gulps. "Max is out seeing some doctor guy. "

Bling nodded and walked into the living room to check on Logan. Milla followed. _Gee, for a person who had someone who wasn't supposed to touch them or come near them do just that, he's doin' pretty good._ A few more sores had torn open, but he'd be okay if Max would just - the phone rang, snapping Milla back into the present.

"I'll get it- Yes? Hello? Oh, Max, thank God... You got it? Okay, meet you downstairs and you'll inject me with it... Yeah, I got Bling, he'll poke Logan for us..." Milla was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I was out getting Bling, sorry we didn't pick up earlier. Okay, I'll see you in a few."

Max slammed the phone down into its resting place and lay her head against the phone booth, shaking terribly. _Worst effing time to get an effing seizure, Max._ A loud ringing noise came from the phone.

"Shi- Hello?"

"Max! I knew you were still there. You sounded shaky as hell. I'm coming to get you. What's the nearest place to stash your bike? I'll get Bling to come down and inject me, I don't want you ripping up my ar-"

"Jesus Christ, calm down," Max yelled. "Sorry. Look, I'll j-just get there, get Bling to come down and we'll all go up together."

"Okay," Milla said. "I've never had someone dying on a couch before and the person holding the antidote across town having a seizure. Usually my C.O. took care of that."

"It's okay, I'll be there in a couple minutes," Max hung up and sped off on her bike. When she got to Foggle Towers, Bling grabbed her and gave her a bottle of Trytophan. She swallowed most of it and the seizure steadied enough for her to talk again.

"I-Is Logan o-okay?" Bling wrapped an arm around gave an affirmative yeah. They went into the foyer, where Milla was cleaning her arm for Max to give the injection.

"Pretty dirty place, that hotel room," she smiled up at Max. "I thought I'd at least make sure I was clean." Max smiled back at her and handed Bling the antidote and cure. 

The foyer's layout was simple, but ritzy. Walk in, and there's a small room you must go through, either with a key or just call someone in their apartment and have them buzz you in. When you went into the actual foyer area, there were pop cans to the left, elevators to the right. There were seats for you to sit and wait, a wheelchair ramp, and some stairs to anopther, smaller level, with a couple benches. If you went down the hallway in either direction, there were the ground-level apartments and a laundry room. On the main level, past the Coke machines, there were some more soft, covered benches and a chair, sitting on a wall underneath a few windows. It started to rain, ruining whatever afternoon sunlight they had. Milla sat on the bench nearest the Coke machine, and Max sat in a chair beside her, curled up, still shaking. Bling sat down, put the antivirus into the hyperdermic needle, and stuck Milla. She blinked once, but she was used to it. No biggie. Just a shot. Bling finished and Max sat up.

"The only way for me to get cured is the same way that I got the problem," Max laughed through the seizure. "Pucker up, Milla." In about half a second, she raced over, kissed her sister again, then sat back down. Milla looked dazed. 

"This isn't going to be a regular thing, is it?" The two girls laughed.

"How much longer until we can go back upstairs, huh?" Max stood up and brushed off her jeans.

"I'll call your beeper when he's back to good health, the antidote should've taken effect by then," Bling stared down at the small vial that he had not injected Milla with. "How much of this do I give him?" Milla told him and he nodded. "Well, there's about three times that much here." He looked back up at the two women sitting near the window. "I'll beep you," he said quietly, then hurriedly got in an elevator.

Logan fell off the couch. The pain of landing on many open sores tore through him and he came out of consciousness for a moment. Bling came in. Logan tried to move his mouth to speak, but it didn't work. Bling hoisted him back onto the couch and injected him with the antidote. Milla's eyes glazed over. Something, someone had taken complete control over her. Her mind searched. Where was Logan? Oh yes, he was in the penthouse. Getting through Bling and Max would not be a problem, not at all... And besides, Max was dozing. Seizures seemed to be the only thing that made her sleep. She shook once, twice, then stopped.

Milla stood up noisily. Whoever was controlling her was a clumsy git. Then the controlling stopped. Logan's face flashed through her mind, as well as an extreme urge to kill him. Max woke quietly and went afer her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She whirled Milla around by the shoulder and looked at her. "Why are you going upstairs?" Milla looked sick, stoned, and dead all at once. Maxes seizure started again, but barely even noticeable. _It's that damned implant. Gotta get it out of there._ A plan formulated in Max's mind. She punched Milla in the face to knock her out, but it did not faze her. She merely turned around and head for the elevator. Finally, Max pounced on her, barely three feet from the open elevator. Sitting on Milla's ribs, she punched the girl a few times. The urge to kill Logan would become stronger soon and Milla would probably act with the force of a Red, or worse - she was a transgen, after all. Max punched her in the face again. Her body was weak, all of it's forces trying to stop this thing from controlling her.

Milla reached up and flipped Max over. "X5-452, you are in my way," she spat.

That did it. "My name's _MAX!_" Lightning fast, she got a foot on Milla's belly from under it and kicked across the room, into the wall. She collapsed and Max ran over.

"Max," she tried to speak through the implants ever-rising control. "I'm so, so sorry," Milla began to cry, stood up as if she was a puppet on strings, then walked towards the elevator. She looked ridiculous, trying to stop herself from doing this, not being able to-

Max rushed her, grabbed her neck, snapped it. Milla's dead body slumped into her arms and Max placed her dead clone, sister, and friend on the floor as sobs wracked her already shaking body. Her beeper went off and she pulled herself together, then dragged Milla's body into the laundry room. The sun was going down. Covering Milla with a sheet from a nearby dryer, she walked back toward the elevator, away from her sister's dead body, toward Logan, who would not be hurt by any Frankenstein viruses any more... 


	7. 

**"Keeping Secrets"**  
Chapter 7: Post It  
Mochaije

**Disclaimer:** "Proof of Purchase" spoilers, but other than that the plot is mine. I own Milla's character post-faking-being-Max.   
**Summary:** Max's somehat patched-up life gets more complicated.  
**Rating:** PG 13  
**A/N:** Italics are thoughts, obviously. 

The elevaor door squeaked open and she heard Bling swear. "Max, get away, get to your apartment or something, quickly!" _The cure didn't work,_ she thought, crying as the elevator descended to the ground. _That's it, then. I'll have to pack up and move. If I even get anywhere near Logan..._ The elevator jarred to stop, as did her seizure. She decided to get home, take some Trytophan, not think about killing Milla, not think about almost killing Logan, have a shower and a good cry. She also needed some sleep. She would call in the morning and sort this out. Blinking back tears, she tore away on her bike.

The sores dissappeared from Logan's arms again. He was tired. Bling was explaining what was happening but he couldn't be be bothered with it.

"We'll have to make you some papers... Out of town... Max can't come within thirty feet of you... Too dangerous... Was just a load of BS."

"What? Why can't Max come near me? She didn't have the virus, Milla did. You're confusing me, Bling." Logan put on his glasses. Bling was sitting across from him, in the living room.

"Look, we'll sort this out later. Max is probably a wreck. I'm going to go downstairs and put my laundry in the dryer, my clothes are gonna smell bad." He stood up and patted Logan on the shoulder, then left, waited for the elevator, went downstairs, into the laundry room, and there was Max, lying on the ground, unconscious, half-covered in a bedsheet-

Bling checked her pulse. It was too low to even bother. She'd be dead in a few minutes. She looked like she'd snapped her own neck, after lying down under a sheet. He put her outside in a dumpster. _I didn't think she'd ever do that to herself,_ Bling shook his head and took a Post-It note out of his pocket, and wrote:

R.I.P.  
Max Guevera  
2000 - 2021

He couldn't think of anything nice to say underneath that, and so he stuck the Post-It to the dumpster. _What the hell am I going to tell Logan..._

Max skidded to a stop suddenly. _I left Milla's body in a laundry room, I'm so horrible, I kill her and then leave her there..._ She turned back towards Foggle Towers to give Milla a proper burial.

She dismounted the bike in the parking lot when a white bed sheet poking out of a dumpster caught her eye. She jumped up and looked into the dumpster. Milla's lifeless face looked up at her. Biting back vomit, she jumped back down. _I wonder who found her? Couldn't be Logan, or his body would be not far off... Oh God, Logan, please stay in the penthouse._ She saw a small Post-It note. Reading it, she recognized Bling's handwriting. Had he thought suicide? He had definitely thought it was her, anyway.

_This is perfect. Just leave town - Everyone will think you're dead, no one will be coming after you, not until they figure out that the body is actually Milla._ She sped out of town.

"Hey, Bling," Logan was standing in the kitchen, making dinner, trying to be normal even though he would never see Max again, even though he'd never get to be with her, even though he'd never get to kiss her again...

"You'll never believe what I found." Bling swallowed. "Max committed suicide... I found her in the laundry room..."

Bling's words hit Logan like a tonne of bricks. "_What?_ You have to be kidding," he remembered that Milla had a small implant that, if triggered, would make her kill him. Max had looked like she'd do anything to prevent that from happening.

Logan looked at the man with a pained expression. "How long was her hair?"

"Past her shoulders, and straight-"

"That's Milla, Bling..."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but there's been a block ordered on this I.D. of yours," the Sector Cop handed Max back her I.D. and turned to the next person.

"Aw, c'mon, can't a girl deliver a package?"

"Fine, but don't tell anyone... Go ahead," he nodded. She smiled and left marks in the road as she floored her bike.

Logan pulled up to the Sector Checkpoint minutes after Max did. _I have to talk to her..._ He parke the Aztek and he and Bling climbed out. He found a Sector Cop and interrogated him.

"You let any Max Gueveras through lately?" The cop nodded at him and waved some more people through. Logan was getting the jist that he wouldn't get anything out of anyone here. He and Bling climbed back into the Aztek as his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"It's Max."

"Max... What happened to Milla?"

"She was trying to kill you. Never mind."

"Well, where are you?"

"Far away. Please don't chase me, there's no more antidote..."

"Max, we'll find the doctor, get him to make you something for this-"

"Don't you get it? He didn't cook this up, it's a repurcussion of what he did to Milla. It's too dangerous for us to be in the same town. If I can find someone to fix-"

"Max, please, come back..." There was a click on the other end of the line. 


End file.
